Reading to learn: Instructional Strategy of the Month
Supporting Literacy Across the Content Areas
-adapted from Perspectives of Policy and Practice, Brown University 2001
“Reading is a different task when we read literature, science texts, historical analyses, newspapers, tax forms. This is why teaching students how to read the texts of academic disciplines is a key part of teaching them these disciplines.” (Key Ideas of the Strategic Literacy Initiative, 2001)
Literacy - the ability to read, write, speak, listen, and think effectively - enables adolescents to learn and to communicate clearly in and out of school. Being literate enables people to access power through the ability to become informed, to inform others, and to make informed decisions. Adolescents need to have strong literacy skills so that they can understand academic content, communicate in a credible way, participate in cultural communities, and negotiate the world. In addition to a cultural component, therefore, building literacy addresses empowerment and equity issues.
What happens, as is often the case, when literacy skills are too weak to support learning in content areas? At the middle school and high school levels, literacy skills must become increasingly sophisticated to meet more challenging academic expectations. The ability to transact meaning from the academic text of different disciplines is often not directly taught, with the consequence of failure to comprehend those academic topics. For example, if students can’t understand a scientific argument, then they can’t understand the science that they’re trying to learn. If students can’t understand how history is presented, they can’t understand the points being made or connect those to what is happening in the present. If these literacy skills are not fluent due to lack of practice and inappropriate instruction, all but the most advanced readers and writers are placed at a disadvantage.
Research suggests there are four elements that are necessary for true improvement in literacy for secondary students and Cross Creek is on the right track. Elements include (1) Motivation, (2) Strategies, (3) Organizational support, and (4) Commitment to literacy across the curriculum. Cross Creek’s program uses SEL education (R-time) to help with intangibles such as motivation and mindset. The Powerful Teaching and Learning component employs strategies and protocols to assist in increasing literacy instruction. Fidelity to the model is key in this endeavor. Finally, commitment from all content teachers to insert literacy skill-builders in class is key. Instinctively we know that, but how can we get there?
Even though literacy strategies are part of the curriculum and instruction of English, the teaching of literacy strategies is everyone’s job. Regardless of the content standards for any content area, national and state standards include gaining new knowledge in a particular content and being able to communicate that knowledge. Thus, all content areas have the job of teaching literacy, not just English language arts.
Supporting Literacy Development in the AVID Classroom
AVID's entire reason for existence is based on building academic and personal skills in a holistic way. At Cross Creek, the instruction provided in the AVID classroom and supported by other content areas is critical to student success in high school and at the university. “AVID’s proven learning support structure, known as WICOR , incorporates teaching/learning methodologies in critical areas." It provides a "learning model that educators can use to guide students in comprehending concepts and articulating ideas at increasingly complex levels (scaffolding) within developmental, general education, and discipline-based curricula." AVID is administered differently at the early college than a traditional setting and that, too, has been turned into a plus situation because of the hybrid nature of on-line/in-school support. It sets students up for the realities of post-secondary education as well.
Click the button above or below for reading protocols with the AVID classroom in mind. What can you add to the list of strategies for reading in AVID?
Resources/More information:
https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/adlitcontent.pdf http://avidmartin.weebly.com/wicor-reading.html
-adapted from Perspectives of Policy and Practice, Brown University 2001
“Reading is a different task when we read literature, science texts, historical analyses, newspapers, tax forms. This is why teaching students how to read the texts of academic disciplines is a key part of teaching them these disciplines.” (Key Ideas of the Strategic Literacy Initiative, 2001)
Literacy - the ability to read, write, speak, listen, and think effectively - enables adolescents to learn and to communicate clearly in and out of school. Being literate enables people to access power through the ability to become informed, to inform others, and to make informed decisions. Adolescents need to have strong literacy skills so that they can understand academic content, communicate in a credible way, participate in cultural communities, and negotiate the world. In addition to a cultural component, therefore, building literacy addresses empowerment and equity issues.
What happens, as is often the case, when literacy skills are too weak to support learning in content areas? At the middle school and high school levels, literacy skills must become increasingly sophisticated to meet more challenging academic expectations. The ability to transact meaning from the academic text of different disciplines is often not directly taught, with the consequence of failure to comprehend those academic topics. For example, if students can’t understand a scientific argument, then they can’t understand the science that they’re trying to learn. If students can’t understand how history is presented, they can’t understand the points being made or connect those to what is happening in the present. If these literacy skills are not fluent due to lack of practice and inappropriate instruction, all but the most advanced readers and writers are placed at a disadvantage.
Research suggests there are four elements that are necessary for true improvement in literacy for secondary students and Cross Creek is on the right track. Elements include (1) Motivation, (2) Strategies, (3) Organizational support, and (4) Commitment to literacy across the curriculum. Cross Creek’s program uses SEL education (R-time) to help with intangibles such as motivation and mindset. The Powerful Teaching and Learning component employs strategies and protocols to assist in increasing literacy instruction. Fidelity to the model is key in this endeavor. Finally, commitment from all content teachers to insert literacy skill-builders in class is key. Instinctively we know that, but how can we get there?
Even though literacy strategies are part of the curriculum and instruction of English, the teaching of literacy strategies is everyone’s job. Regardless of the content standards for any content area, national and state standards include gaining new knowledge in a particular content and being able to communicate that knowledge. Thus, all content areas have the job of teaching literacy, not just English language arts.
Supporting Literacy Development in the AVID Classroom
AVID's entire reason for existence is based on building academic and personal skills in a holistic way. At Cross Creek, the instruction provided in the AVID classroom and supported by other content areas is critical to student success in high school and at the university. “AVID’s proven learning support structure, known as WICOR , incorporates teaching/learning methodologies in critical areas." It provides a "learning model that educators can use to guide students in comprehending concepts and articulating ideas at increasingly complex levels (scaffolding) within developmental, general education, and discipline-based curricula." AVID is administered differently at the early college than a traditional setting and that, too, has been turned into a plus situation because of the hybrid nature of on-line/in-school support. It sets students up for the realities of post-secondary education as well.
Click the button above or below for reading protocols with the AVID classroom in mind. What can you add to the list of strategies for reading in AVID?
Resources/More information:
https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/adlitcontent.pdf http://avidmartin.weebly.com/wicor-reading.html